Gwyneth Paltrow Has ‘The Conversation’ On Postpartum Depression

Gwyneth Paltrow opens up to Amanda de Cadenet on having postpartum depression in the premiere episode of Lifetime’s The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet. The actress says that after the birth of her son Moses – she “couldn’t connect to anyone. I felt like a zombie. I felt very detached.”

She added, “I just didn’t know what was wrong with me. I couldn’t figure it out. It never occurred to me. My husband [Chris Martin] actually said, ‘Something’s wrong. I think you have postnatal depression.’ I was mortified. ‘No I don’t!’ And then I started researching what it was and the symptoms and I was like, ‘Oh, yes I do.’”US Weekly reports the 39-year-old also said talking about postpartum depression made it easier to deal with.

We think that it makes us bad mothers or we didn’t do it right, but it’s like, we’re all in this together. I never understand why mothers judge other mothers, like, ‘What do you mean you didn’t breastfeed? What do you mean you didn’t do this?’ It’s like, ‘Can’t we all just be on each other’s side?’ It’s so hard anyway. Can’t we all help each other get through it? There’s a shame attached to it because if you say, ‘I had a baby and I couldn’t connect to the baby,’ it’s like, ‘What is wrong with you?’”

“That’s why I talk about it, because even the awareness of it started to diminish it,” Paltrow explained. “Because I didn’t feel like I’m dying or I’m crazy — period. It’s like, ‘Oh, this is a thing. This is a real thing and these are the symptoms and I have them all.’”

Glad to see more and more women come out about the reality of this experience. Hopefully it’ll make it easier for other women to express thier difficulties in the future.

carolyn Robertson

I love that she talks so openly about this, along with Bryce Dallas Howard and other celeb moms. It can only help other women going through the same thing, and show them that there is light at the end of that tunnel, that they can get through it.

Carrie

Good for her for speaking out on this subject!

Anabelle

When this happens to animals, the baby dies. Thank God humans have a system in place. 100 years ago, Moses would be dead because his mother didn’t love him.

nicksy

Postpartum depression does not mean that the mother doesn’t love their child. Being depressed does not mean you are a sociopath. Mothers who suffer from this disease do love their child, but often feel detatched from it, as if they couldn’t connect or communicate with it.
Animals run purely on instinct, therefore they do not experience ‘love’ the way we do. For example, with most newborn animals born into a litter, the mother will abandon a sickly/dying one for the sake of the other’s survival – survival of the fittest and adaption to the circumstances. It may not be pretty, but in turn has ensured the species’ development and propagation.